NAME

sane-epson - SANE backend for EPSON scanners

DESCRIPTION

The sane-epson library implements a SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy)
backend that provides access to Epson flatbed scanners. Some functions
of this backend should be considered beta-quality software! Most
functions have been stable for a long time, but of course new
development can not and often times will not function properly from the
very first day. Please report any strange behavior to the maintainer of
the backend.
At present, the following scanners are known to work with this backend:
Model: Connection Type
--------------------------- -------------------
GT-5000 SCSI, parallel
GT-6000 parallel
GT-6500 SCSI (use only the line "scsi" in epson.conf)
ActionScanner II SCSI, parallel
GT-7000 SCSI
Perfection 636 SCSI
Perfection 636U USB
Perfection 610 USB
Perfection 640 USB
Perfection 1200S SCSI
Perfection 1200U USB
Perfection 1240 USB, SCSI
Perfection 1640 USB, SCSI
Perfection 1650 USB
Perfection 1660 USB
Perfection 2400 USB
Perfection 2450 USB, IEEE-1394
Expression 636 / GT-9500 SCSI
Expression 1600 USB, SCSI, IEEE-1394
Expression 1680 USB, SCSI, IEEE-1394
CX-3200 USB
CX-5200 USB
and many more. The official list is on the Sane web site.
For other scanners the software may or may not work. Please send mail
to the backend author (khk@khk.net) to report success with scanners not
on the list or problems with scanners that are listed.

OPTIONS

The options the backend supports can either be selected through command
line options to programs like scanimage or through GUI elements in
programs like xscanimage or xsane.
Valid command line options and their syntax can be listed by using
scanimage --help -d epson
Not all devices support all options.
ScanMode
The --mode switch selects the basic mode of operation of the
scanner. Valid choices are Binary, Gray and Color. The Binary
mode is black and white only, Gray will produce 256 levels of
gray or more depending on the scanner and Color means 24 bit
color mode or more depending on the scanner. Some scanners will
internally use 36 bit color, their external interface however
may only support 24 bits.
The --depth option selects the bit depth the scanner is using.
This option is only available for scanners that support more
than one bit depth. Older scanners will always transfer the
image in 8bit mode. Newer scanners allow to select either 8
bits, 12 or 14 bits per color channel. For a color scan this
means an effective color depth of 36 or 42 bits over all three
channels. The valid choices depend on the scanner model.
The --halftoning switch selects the mode that is used in Binary
mode. Valid options are "None", "Halftone A (Hard Tone)",
"Halftone B (Soft Tone)", "Halftone C (Net Screen)", "Dither A
(4x4 Bayer)", "Dither B (4x4 Spiral)", "Dither C (4x4 Net
Screen)", "Dither D (8x4 Net Screen)", "Text Enhanced
Technology", "Download pattern A", and "Download pattern B".
The --dropout switch selects the so called dropout color. Vald
options are None, Red, Green and Blue. The default is None. The
dropout color is used for monochrome scanning and selects the
color that is not scanned. This can be used to e.g. scan an
original with a colored background.
The --brightness switch controls the brightness of the scan.
Valid options are integer values from -3 to 3. The default is 0.
The larger the brightness value, the brighter the image gets. If
a user defined table for the gamma correction is selected, the
brightness parameter is not available.
The --sharpness switch sets the sharpness of the image data.
Valid options are integer values from -2 to 2, with -2 meaning
"Defocus", -1 "Defocus slightly", 0 "Normal", 1 "Sharpen
slightly" and 2 "Sharpen".
The --gamma-correction switch controls the scanner's internal
gamma correction. Valid options are "Default", "User defined",
"High density printing" "Low density printing" and "High
contrast printing".
The --color-correction switch controls the scanner's internal
color correction function. Valid options are "No Correction",
"Impact-dot printers", "Thermal printers", "Ink-jet printers"
and "CRT monitors". The default is "CRT monitors".
The --resolution switch selects the resolution for a scan. Some
EPSON scanners will scan in any resolution between the lowest
and highest possible value. The list reported by the scanner can
be displayed using the "--help -d epson" parameters to
scanimage.
The --mirror option controls the way the image is scanned. By
reading the image data from right to left the image is mirrored.
Valid options are "yes" and "no". The default is "no".
The --speed option can improve the scan speed in monochrome
mode. Valid options are "yes" or "no", the "yes" option will
speed up the scan if this option is supported.
The --auto-area-segmentation switch activates the automatic area
segmentation for monochrome scans. The scanner will try to
determine which areas are text and which contain images. The
image areas will be halftoned, and the text will be improved.
Valid options are "yes" and "no". The default is "yes".
The --gamma-table parameter can be used to download a user
defined gamma table. The option takes 256 values from the range
0-255. In color mode this option equally affects the red, green,
and blue channel.
The --red-gamma-table parameter can be used to download a user
defined gamma table for the red channel. The valid options are
the same as for --gamma-table.
The --green-gamma-table parameter can be used to download a user
defined gamma table for the green channel. The valid options are
the same as for --gamma-table.
The --blue-gamma-table parameter can be used to download a user
defined gamma table for the blue channel. The valid options are
the same as for --gamma-table.
The color correction coefficients --cct-1--cct-2--cct-3...--cct-9 will install color correction coefficients for the user
defined color correction. Values are specified as integers in
the range -127..127.
The --preview option requests a preview scan. The frontend
software automatically selects a low resolution. Valid options
are "yes" and "no". The default is "no".
The --preview-speed options will increase the scan speed if this
is supported by the scanner. Valid options are "yes" and "no",
the default is "no".
The geometry options -l-t-x-y control the scan area: -l sets
the top left x coordinate, -t the top left y coordinate, -x
selects the width and -y the height of the scan area. All
parameters are specified in millimeters.
The --quick-format option lets the user select a scan area with
predefined sizes. Valid parameters are "CD", "A5 portrait", "A5
landscape", "Letter", "A4" and "max". The default is "max",
which selects the largest possible area.
The --source option selects the scan source. Valid options
depend on the installed options. The default is "Flatbed".
The --auto-eject option will eject a page after scanning from
the document feeder.
The --film-type option will select the film type for scans with
the transparency unit. This option is only activated if the TPU
is selected as scan source. Valid options are "Negative Film"
and "Positive Film".
The --focus-position option selects the focus position for all
scans. Valid options are "Focus 2.5mm above glass" and "Focus on
glass". The focus on the 2.5mm point above the glass is
necessary for scans with the transparency unit, so that the
scanner can focus on the film if one of the film holders is
used. This option is only functional for selected scanners, all
other scanners will ignore this option.

CONFIGURATIONFILE

The configuration file /etc/sane.d/epson.conf specifies the device(s)
that the backend will use. Possible connection types are:
SCSI This is the default, and if nothing else is specified the
backend software will open a given path as SCSI device. More
information about valid syntax for SCSI devices can be found in
sane-scsi(5).
Usually SCSI scanners are configured with a line "scsi EPSON" in
this file. In some cases it may be necessary to only use the
string "scsi" (e.g. for the GT-6500).
PIO-ParallelInterface
The parallel interface can be configured in two ways: An integer
value starting at the beginning of a line will be interpreted as
the IO address of the parallel port. To make it clearer that a
configured IO address is a parallel port the port address can be
preceded by the string "PIO". The PIO connection does not use a
special device file in the /dev directory. The IO address can be
specified in hex mode (prefixed with "0x").
USB A device file that is preceded by the string "USB" is treated as
a scanner connected via the Universal Serial Bus. The correct
special device file has to be created prior to using it with
Sane. See the USB documentation for more information about how
to set up the USB subsystem and the required device files.

FILES

/usr/lib/sane/libsane-epson.a
The static library implementing this backend.
/usr/lib/sane/libsane-epson.so
The shared library implementing this backend (present on systems
that support dynamic loading).

ENVIRONMENT

SANE_DEBUG_EPSON
If the library was compiled with debug support enabled, this
environment variable controls the debug level for this backend.
E.g., a value of 128 requests all debug output to be printed.
Smaller levels reduce verbosity.
SANE_DEBUG_EPSON_SCSI
If the library was compiled with debug support enabled, this
environment variable controls the SCSI related debug level for
this backend. Only a value of 2 is supported.
SANE_EPSON_CMD_LVL
This allows to override the function or command level that the
backend uses to communicate with the scanner. The function level
a scanner supports is determined during the initialization of
the device. If the backend does not recognize the function level
reported by the scanner it will default to function level B3.
Valid function levels are A1, A2, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7,
B8, D1 and F5. Use this feature only if you know what you are
doing!

SEEALSO

BUGS

None :-) At least none are currently known.

UNSUPPORTEDDEVICES

The backend may be used with Epson scanners that are not yet listed
under the list of supported devices. A scanner that is not recognized
may default to the function level B3, which means that not all
functions that the scanner may be capable of are accessible.
If the scanner is not even recognized as an Epson scanner this is
probably because the device name reported by the scanner is not in the
correct format. Please send this information to the backend maintainer
(email address is in the AUTHOR section of this man page or in the
AUTHORS file of the SANE distribution).
The Perfection 600, Perfection 650, Perfection 660, Perfection 1250 and
Perfection 1260 are not supported by this backend.

AUTHOR

The package is actively maintained by Karl Heinz Kremer (khk@khk.net).
The software is based on work by Christian Bucher and Kazuhiro Sasayama
11 Jul 2008 sane-epson(5)